Nigerian rapper blamed for the death of his brother who was burnt to death by rival gang

A 21-year-old Nigerian rapper, resident in London, has been blamed for the death of his 7-year-old brother who was burnt to death on Tuesday by rival gang.

Samuel Urhie, also known as Skeemz, is believed to have been the target of the arson attack that killed his autistic brother Joel in Deptford, south London, in the early hours of Tuesday August 7th.

Samuel had lived a life of crime and several attempts had been made on his life. He had been jailed for four years and four months in February 2014 for two counts of supplying drugs and one of possession of criminal property. He was recently released from prison for dealing cocaine and heroin. Shortly after his release from prison three months ago, he was allegedly stabbed and was taken in by his mother.

Sam in jail

Then, his mother’s house was set ablaze by rival gangs but Sam was not in the house at the time. Sam’s mother Sophie, 49, his19-year-old sister Sarah, and his 7-year-old brother were in the house during the arson attack. His mother and sister escaped the inferno by smashing an upstairs window and jumping out. But Joel was unable to escape the flames.

Witnesses told how a grief-stricken Sam was heard screaming “it should have been me” as he visited his family in hospital after the blaze. A family member also said that Sam’s mother blames her eldest son for the death of his brother. It was claimed that the boys’ mum confronted her son in emotional scenes in the hospital barely 24 hours after the fire had claimed his little brother’s life.

A cousin of Joel’s dad John, who did not want to give her name, told The Sun Online: “The mum blamed him. She told him straight away in the hospital ‘you have killed Joel’.”

Confirming she suspects Sam was the intended target of the arson attack, Joel’s aunt Ruth Urhie, 64, said: “Sam has just come out of jail and they came there to stab him. He’s the one they are looking for and they take the life of this young boy.”

Detectives are investigating the possibility that the arsonists were targeting Sam when they torched the family home in Deptford, south-east London